Glasgow - the “dear green place” - is living up to its name, at least within its schools. An impressive 102 schools have now gone “green”, using special blue bins to recycle their own waste.
Members of Glasgow City Council’s education committee heard yesterday (Thursday) that between September and December last year, 8.2 tonnes of material was collected via the blue bins and taken to the recycling facility at Polmadie.
Since September, more than 1,100 pupils and teachers have toured Polmadie.
The blue bins are largely being funded under an interim award of pound;9.38 million from the Scottish Executive’s waste fund to help the city meet its recycling and diversion targets.
The funding has included pound;80,000 to employ a waste education officer and assistants from the Wise Group, a charity which helps the unemployed back into work. They have provided workshops and recycling presentations and hosted a theatrical performance at Polmadie last October featuring the Working Party and the Stalker Teatro Project Turin.
Lorna Harper, Glasgow’s waste minimisation and education officer, who started her job last June, has been involved in producing new curricular materials entitled “What a lot of rubbish!”. She also acts as a guide to school parties visiting the Polmadie facility.
“The children see how paper is extracted from materials, and the separation of different kinds of plastic,” she said.
Recycled plastic can be turned into fleeces, hats, scarves, socks and filling for pillows.
Children in nursery schools are encouraged to involve the local community in bringing in newspapers for recycling.
Robert O’Neill, director of environmental protection services in Glasgow, said: “It’s very important to let young people see how much rubbish is created in the city, how we deal with it and what changes we are making to meet our targets for recycling.
“We hope they take away the message that everyone has a responsibility to care for the environment. We have had a great response from this programme.”
